No one seemed to hate Star Trek more than Gene Roddenberry

When it comes to Star Trek, many people hold creator Gene Roddenberry up as this end-all-be-all figure. They celebrate him and lean on his beliefs when defending or criticizing shows or films. It's always been a fascinating thing to behold, as many of these fans have no idea just how much Roddenberry hated his own creation.

When he had complete control over the franchise, this wasn't the case. It was when the franchise started to leave him behind that Roddenberry grew resentful of the series that he started. Maybe the most famous story of Roddenberry's own juvenile hatred was that of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. A film that is universally beloved by Star Trek fans, yet reviled by Roddenberry.

So much so that the series creator tried to ruin the film while doing the convention circuit prior to the film. Roddenberry would ruin the reveal that Spock died at the end, all for some morbid revenge. He truly did hate Wrath of Khan, which is wild, as it's arguably the best story ever told in Star Trek history.

It wasn't the only time that Roddenberry snubbed his nose at other beloved works within his creation. When The Next Generation came along, a young upstart named Ronald D. Moore made a name for himself as a writer with the series. So much so that his ideas and work on the show helped make him into a legendary creator in his own right.

Yet, Roddenberry wasn't a fan of some of his best work, namely the fourth season episode, "Family". In a 2008 interview with The Hollywood Reporter (Via SlashFilm)

""Gene hates it. I had my version of this meeting, not by myself; it's with me and [executive producers] Rick Berman and Michael Piller, we all go into Gene's office. Gene goes through this whole thing about how much he hates this script. 'It says terrible things about Picard's parents; these brothers don't exist in the twenty-fourth century; they have such profound personal animosities; this would never happen. I don't buy any of this, this is not a 'Star Trek' episode. There's no action in this; there's no jeopardy. We can't do this show.'""

Thankfully for fans of the episode, show-runners Rick Berman and Michael Piller handled Roddenberry and had the episode greenlit. By this time, Roddenberry was less involved in the series and had far less power. A simple conversation was likely had, where the two men made it clear they were doing the episode.

After all, the studio was no longer backing Roddenberry as the head of the franchise. By most accounts, he was little more than a consultant on the show after the first season or so.

It's sad that Roddenberry had such disdain for the franchise succeeding without him.